# How to Use 3D PDF Files

The 3D PDF file created by UDiTH Builder can be opened with **Adobe Reader**.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image7.png" width="756" height="455">

## 3D Toolbar

### Display and Hide 3D Toolbar

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image8.png" width="606" height="27">

-   Click the 3D model with the **Hand** tool to display the 3D toolbar.

    The 3D toolbar always appears above the upper-left corner of the 3D model and cannot be moved.

-   Hide the toolbar by right-clicking the 3D model and choosing **Hide toolbar**. To show the toolbar again, choose **Show toolbar** from the same context menu.

-   You can expand and collapse the 3D tools shown on the toolbar by using **Tools → Expand/Collapse 3D tools** in the context menu.

> All tools that can be used from the 3D toolbar can also be used by right-clicking the 3D model and using the different items of the context menu.

## Use 3D Navigation Tools

-   **Rotate (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image9.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Turns 3D objects relative to the screen. How the objects move depends on the starting view, where you begin dragging, and the direction in which you drag, for example in a straight line, a curve, a circle, or a loop.

> You can also use the **Hand** tool to select an object if **Enable selection for the hand tool** is selected in the 3D preferences.

-   **Spin (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image10.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Rotates a 3D model in parallel with two fixed axes in the 3D model, the x-axis and the z-axis.

-   **Pan (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image11.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Moves the model vertically and horizontally only. You can also pan with the **Hand** tool by pressing **Ctrl** while dragging.

-   **Zoom (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image12.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Moves you towards or away from objects in the scene when you drag vertically. You can also zoom with the **Hand** tool by holding down **Shift** while dragging.

-   **Walk (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image13.png" width="16" height="16">):**

> The **Walk** tool is only available when you select the 3D Preferences setting that consolidates tools or when you right-click the 3D model and choose **Tools** → **Walk**.

    Pivots horizontally around the scene when you drag horizontally, moves forwards or backwards through the scene when you drag vertically, and maintains a constant elevation level regardless of how you drag. The **Walk** tool is especially useful for architectural 3D models.

-   Drag with the right mouse button to change how several of the 3D navigation tools behave:

    For the **Rotate** and **Spin** tools, right-click dragging temporarily switches to the **Zoom** tool.

    For the **Zoom** tool, it behaves like a **Marquee zoom** tool, zooming to the area that you define while dragging.

    For the **Walk** tool, right-click dragging makes the tool behave like the **Pan** tool.

### Use 3D Toolbar View Controls

-   **Default view** (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image14.png" width="16" height="16">):

    Returns to a preset zoom, pan, rotation, and projection mode for the 3D model.

> If an object ever moves out of your view, click the **Default view** icon on the 3D toolbar to move the object back into view.

-   **Views menu:**

    Selects the different views defined for the current 3D model.

-   **Toggle model tree (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image15.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Opens and hides the model tree.

-   **Projection (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image16.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Toggles between perspective and orthographic projection of the 3D object.

    Orthographic projection effectively removes a dimension, preserving the size ratio between objects but giving the 3D model a less realistic appearance.

-   **Model render mode menu (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image17.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Selects the different model render modes so that you can see how the 3D shape appears. Compare the differences in rendering speed and quality.

    The model rendering modes include combinations of factors that affect the appearance of the 3D object. The illustration below shows a simple tank object rendered in each of the available modes. The default rendering mode is usually **Solid**.

**Table 1: Model rendering modes**

<table>
<tr><th>A. Solid</th><th>B. Transparent Bounding Box</th><th>C. Transparent</th></tr>
<tr><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image18.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image19.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image20.png" width="208" height="213">

</td></tr>
<tr><th>D. Solid Wireframe</th><th>E. Illustration</th><th>F. Solid Outline</th></tr>
<tr><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image21.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image22.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image23.png" width="208" height="213">

</td></tr>
<tr><th>G. Shaded Illustration</th><th>H. Bounding Box</th><th>I. Transparent Bounding Box Outline</th></tr>
<tr><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image24.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image25.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image26.png" width="208" height="213">

</td></tr>
<tr><th>J. Wireframe</th><th>K. Shaded Wireframe</th><th>L. Transparent Wireframe</th></tr>
<tr><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image27.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image28.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image29.png" width="208" height="213">

</td></tr>
<tr><th>M. Hidden Wireframe</th><th>N. Vertices</th><th>O. Shaded Vertices</th></tr>
<tr><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image30.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image31.png" width="208" height="213">

</td><td>

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image32.png" width="208" height="213">

</td></tr>
</table>

-   **Enable extra lighting menu**
    (![](./media/3DPDF_image33.png)):

    Uses the different lighting effects so that you can see how the number, colour, orientation, and brightness of the lights, together with the reflectivity of the surface and other factors, affect the illumination of the 3D object.

-   **Background colour swatch:**

    Opens the colour picker, which you can use to select a different colour for the area surrounding the 3D object.

-   **Toggle cross section (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image34.png" width="16" height="16">), (not available in Adobe Reader):**

    Shows and hides cross-sections of the object. Click the pop-up button to open the **Cross section properties** dialogue box.

-   **Camera properties (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image35.png" width="16" height="16">):**

    Opens the camera properties window and allows you to modify the camera position. **Save camera view** is not available in **Adobe Reader**.

 <img src="./media/3DPDF_image36.png" width="292" height="555">

## Model Tree

### Display and Hide Model Tree

-   Open the model tree by clicking the **Toggle model tree** button (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image15.png" width="16" height="16">) on the 3D toolbar, or by right-clicking the 3D model and choosing **Show model tree**.

> You can change the default behaviour of the model tree by right-clicking the 3D model, choosing **3D preferences**, and then selecting an option from the **Open model tree on 3D activation** menu.

    The model tree appears in the navigation pane on the left side of the work area.

    The model tree has three panes: the Structure pane, the View pane, and the Object Data pane. Each displays a specific type of information or controls.

### Use Structure Pane

The top pane shows the tree structure of the 3D object, which is made up of individual parts. For example, a 3D object showing a storage tank may have separate groups of objects, called nodes, for the tank, insulation, and nozzles.

To configure the model tree and attributes in the PDF file, see the section *3D PDF settings*.

-   Move through the hierarchy and see how the related parts in the 3D model are selected when you select the tree nodes.

-   Hide various parts, to isolate others, by removing checkmarks next to them.

-   Highlight, view, or modify the 3D model content at any level in the model tree by right-clicking a node and selecting the required function.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image37.png" width="400" height="517">

-   Select the **Options** menu and choose any of the following:

> **Model render mode:** Changes the surface appearance of the entire 3D
> model according to the item you choose from the submenu: Transparent
> Bounding Box, Solid, Transparent, Solid Wireframe and so on.
>
> **Show all parts:** Displays the entire 3D model.
>
> **Fit visible:** Displays all visible parts and centres them in the
> view.
>
> **Display bounding box:** Displays the box that encloses the 3D object
> or selected parts of the model.
>
> **Set bounding box colour:** Changes the colour of the bounding box.
> Choose this option, select a colour, and then click OK.
>
> **Hide:** Displays the model without showing the selected parts.
>
> **Isolate:** Displays only the selected part, hiding all others.
>
> **Zoom to part:** Changes the centre focus from the entire 3D model to
> the selected parts. This setting is especially useful for rotating a
> part, allowing the rotation to occur around the part's centre focus
> rather than that of the entire model.
>
> **Transparent:** Displays a see-through version of the selected part.
>
> **Export as XML:** Creates a separate XML file of either whole tree or
> current node of the 3D model.

> The items that appear on the **Options** menu and the order in which they are listed depend on whether the selected 3D model is composed of just one part or multiple parts.

### Use View Pane

The middle pane lists the views that the document author has defined for that 3D object.

-   After you changed the view, such as by isolating and rotating a part, simply click one of the listed views to return the 3D model to a saved state.

-   Change the default view (<img src="./media/3DPDF_image14.png" width="16" height="16">) in the **3D toolbar** view controls by right-clicking a view in the **View pane** and then choosing **Set as default view**.

### Use Object Data Pane

The lower pane displays other information, including properties and metadata, if any, about the object or part.

-   Click a particular object in the 3D view. The Object Data pane is filled in automatically with the properties of the selected object, for example SmartPlant Review properties.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image38.png" width="304" height="215">

The selected object is highlighted in a bounding box and the attributes are shown on the object data pane:

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image39.png" width="290" height="242">

### Volume Clipping

3D PDF files created by CAXperts **Universal Plant Viewer** contain a volume clipping feature.

-   Use the context menu on a 3D object in Acrobat Reader and click **CAXperts - Volume clipping**.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image40.png" width="289" height="423">

Then enter the volume clipping radius around the selected object:

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image41.png" width="229" height="188">

> All CAXperts menu items use JavaScript. This is not dangerous, so you can ignore the **Warning: JavaScript window** message.

-   Finally, press **OK**. Only the selected object and all objects within the specified radius will remain visible.

 <img src="./media/3DPDF_image42.png" width="424" height="426">

To switch off volume clipping, click **CAXperts - Reset model** in the context menu.

### Measure with CAXperts - Measuring Tool

-   Use the context menu on a 3D object in Acrobat Reader and click **CAXperts - Measuring tool** to measure 3D models.

-   Click the first object after this message appears:

 ![](./media/3DPDF_image43.png)

-   Then click on the second object:

 ![](./media/3DPDF_image44.png)

 The distance between the centres of the bounding boxes will be shown:

 ![](./media/3DPDF_image45.png)

### Link 2D Objects with 3D Objects

The function to link 2D objects with objects of the 3D model is only available in PDF documents created with CAXperts tools.

-   Show the 3D model in a floating window by right-clicking the 3D model and choosing **View in floating window**.

-   Click a linked item in the 2D drawing to make the 3D window show the item's 3D representation. Links are indicated by the mouse pointer changing to a hand whenever you hover over a link.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image46.png" width="526" height="388">

## 3D Models in Acrobat Professional

### Measure 3D Objects

-   Use the **3D measurement tool** to measure 3D models.

    You can create measurements between combinations of points or edges on the 3D model.

-   Move the pointer over the 3D model to highlight specific points and edges.

> The **3D measurement tool** supports four types of measurements:

1.  perpendicular distance between two straight edges,

2.  linear distance between two points,

3.  the radius of circular edges, and

4.  the angle between two edges (or three points).

You can also display comments while taking measurements. However, these comments, also called measurement mark-ups, are not preserved after the document is closed.

<img src="./media/3DPDF_image47.png" width="344" height="232">

Figure 1: 3D measurement display

1.  Click a 3D model in a PDF to enable it.

2.  Click the **3D measurement tool** icon
    (![](./media/3DPDF_image48.png)) on the 3D toolbar. (If the 3D
    toolbar view is set for consolidated tools, the **3D measurement
    tool** is available on the pop-up menu under the **Rotate**,
    **Spin**, **Pan**, **Zoom**, or **Walk** tool.)

3.  Select the required options in the **Snap enables**, **Measurement types**, and **Units and mark-up settings** areas of the **3D measurement tool** palette.

4.  Under **Units and mark-up settings**, change the options as required. Leave the **3D measurement tool** palette open.

5.  Measure the 3D model:

-   To measure the distance between two positions on the 3D model, click to set a start point and then move the pointer to another location or edge.

-   To measure the circumference of a round shape, move the pointer to the edge of the shape so that a circle appears, and click once.

-   To create and set the position of an annotation on the measurement, select **Measurement mark-up** in the **3D measurement tool** palette and then type a mark-up message in **Annotation**. Measure the 3D model as described above, but click to set the end point for the measurement and then click a third time to set the location of the measurement and annotation text.

-   To discontinue a measurement, right-click and choose **Cancel measurement**.

-   To delete a measurement mark-up, click it with the **3D measurement tool** and press **Delete**.

> While measuring, press **Ctrl+Shift** to rotate. Hold down **Ctrl** to pan, hold down **Shift** to zoom, and hold down **Alt** to disable snap.

**Snap enables** options in the **3D measurement tool** palette:

-   **3D snap to edge endpoints (**![](./media/3DPDF_image49.png)**):** Snaps to the entire edge.

-   **3D snap to linear edges (**![](./media/3DPDF_image50.png)**):** Snaps to a straight-line
    segment of an edge.

-   **3D snap to radial edges (**![](./media/3DPDF_image51.png)**):** Snaps to a circumference.

-   **3D snap to silhouettes (**![](./media/3DPDF_image52.png)**):** Snaps to the apparent edge of
    a part, such as the side of a cylinder.

-   **3D snap to planar faces (**![](./media/3DPDF_image53.png)**):** Snaps to the geometric plane
    making up a face of the part.

**Measurement types** options in the **3D measurement tool** palette:

-   **3D point to point measurement (**![](./media/3DPDF_image54.png)**):** Measures the distance between two positions on the 3D model that you click to set a start point and then click another location to set an end point or edge.

-   **3D perpendicular dimension (**![](./media/3DPDF_image55.png)**):** Measures the distance between two edges taken at a right angle to the starting edge.

-   **3D radial dimension (**![](./media/3DPDF_image56.png)**):** Measures the radius at the location clicked.

-   **3D angle measurement (**![](./media/3DPDF_image57.png)**):** Measures the angle between two edges.

**Units and mark-up** options in the **3D measurement tool** palette:

> If you do not see these settings, choose **Show details** on the palette's **Options** menu.

-   **Model units scale ratio:** Shows the relationship between units in the model and real object measurements. Use the **Display units** menu to select a different unit for the real object measurements.

-   **Measurement mark-up**: Select to have the measurements appear as comments in the PDF.

-   **Label:** Type text that you want to appear with the measurement, both in the 3D model area and in the comments panel. (Not available if **Measurement mark-up** is not selected.)

**3D Measurement tool** viewing options

Use the **Options** menu in the **3D measurement tool** palette to set the viewing options.

> The **3D measurement tool** palette changes to the **Distance tool** palette after a brief delay when the pointer moves outside the canvas area of the 3D model. Moving the pointer back over the 3D model restores the **3D measurement tool** options. The **Ortho** option is available only for the **2D Distance**, **Perimeter**, and **Area** tools.

-   **Show details:** Shows or hides the **Cursor location** and **Units and mark-up settings** options in the **3D measurement tool** palette.

-   **Show rulers:** Shows or hides vertical and horizontal rulers on the page. (Has the same effect as choosing **View** → **Rulers**.)

-   **Snap to 2D content;** Ensures precise measurement in 2D objects.

-   **Snap to 3D content:** Ensures precise measurement in 3D objects.

-   **3D measurement navigation tips:** Opens a dialog box with keyboard shortcuts for several 3D features. You can use these shortcuts while you are measuring.

#### Measuring Preferences

Change the 3D measuring preferences to determine how 3D data is measured. These options appear in the **Measuring (3D)** panel of the **Preferences** dialog box.

> These preferences apply to PDFs that have commenting enabled.

**Use scales and units from model (when present):** Displays measurements based on the model units, if present, taken from the original 3D model. Deselect this option to specify the measurement units manually. This setting can be changed in the **3D measurement tool** palette.

**Use default display unit:** Uses units of measurement that you specify here rather than those in the 3D model.

**Significant digits to display:** Specifies the maximum number of digits in the measurement number.

**3D measuring line colour:** Specifies the colour of the line that appears when you click or drag to measure an object.

**Measure feedback size:** Sets the text size for the measurement display.

**Angular measurements shown in:** Specifies units as either degrees or radians.

**Circular measurements shown as:** Specifies whether the diameter or radius is measured for circular parts.

**3D snap settings:** Turns on snap and specifies whether points, arcs, edges, silhouette edges, or faces are snapped to. Sensitivity indicates how close the pointer needs to be to the item being snapped to. For **Snap hint colour**, specify the colour of the snap line that appears when you hold the pointer over the 3D object.

### Comment on 3D Designs

Comments added to a 3D object are associated with specific views that are defined when the comments are created.

If the view is changed, for example if the 3D object is rotated or moved, the comments are no longer visible.

> Adding comments to 3D model views requires version 7.0.7 or later of **Adobe Acrobat** or **Adobe Reader**.

If you don't want a comment to be associated with a 3D view, add the comment to another part of the page, outside the 3D object area.

#### Add comments to a 3D object

-   Select a tool from the **Comment & mark-up** toolbar.

> The text editing tools have no effect on 3D objects.

-   Click inside the 3D object area to create a new comment and a new view definition in the model tree with a default name such as `CommentView1`.

To add more comments, do one of the following:

-   To create an additional comment in a view, make sure that the required commenting view is selected in the Model Tree, and then click inside the 3D object area.

-   To create an additional comment in a new commenting view, make sure that no commenting view is selected in the Model Tree, and then click inside the 3D object area.

> If one of the automatically generated commenting views is deleted, the associated comments are still available. They can be viewed and selected in the Comments panel or in the model tree, where they are listed under **Views**. Selecting a comment switches the 3D model back to the same viewing configuration it had when the comment was added.

#### Display Comments for a 3D Object

Do one of the following:

-   In the model tree, select a view that contains comments.

-   Click the **Comments** button or choose **View** → **Navigation panels** → **Comments**.

-   In the view pane of the model tree, click **Options** and choose **List comments**.

-   Double-click a comment to open its comment window.

### Run a JavaScript

If there is a separate JavaScript file associated with the 3D model PDF, you can run it.

-   Right-click the 3D model in the PDF, and choose **Run JavaScript**.

## Acrobat 3D Preferences

In the 3D panel of the **Preferences** dialogue box (**Edit** → **Preferences**), you can determine whether the 3D toolbar and model tree are displayed by default. You can also specify a default renderer and decide whether animations are allowed.

**Preferred renderer:** Specifies the rendering engine used and therefore affects both performance and quality, so it is important to select the appropriate renderer. If you select a DirectX or OpenGL option, all rendering takes place using the graphics chip on the video card. If **Software** is selected, rendering may take longer, but performance may be more consistent with that of the model in its original application.

**Enable double-sided rendering:** Some model parts have two sides. To save time and space, you can deselect this option so that only the side facing the user is rendered. If the user looks inside a part rendered with only one side, the back side is invisible.

**Enable hardware rendering for legacy video cards:** Forces the use of a hardware accelerator for even video cards that do not support a pixel shader.

**Open model tree on 3D activation:** Determines whether the model tree is displayed when the 3D model is activated. Choose **Use annotation's setting** to use whichever setting the author selected when adding the 3D model to the PDF.

**Default toolbar state:** Determines whether the 3D toolbar is shown or hidden when a 3D model is activated. Choose **Use annotation's setting** to use whichever setting the author selected when adding the 3D model to the PDF.

**Enable 3D selection for the hand tool:** Lets the user select and highlight parts of the 3D model using the **Hand** tool. If this option is not selected, use the **Object data tool** (**Tools** → **Object data** → **Object data tool**) to select the object.

**Consolidate 3D tools on the 3D toolbar:** Selecting this option places the manipulation and navigation tools under the **Rotate** tool, thereby shortening the 3D toolbar.

**Enable view transitions:** Some 3D models include animated transitions between views. Deselect this option if you want to prevent this 3D animation.

**Optimization scheme for low frame rate:** Specifies what happens to animations of complex models when the frame rate becomes low.

-   **None:** Does not compromise the visuals and leaves the frame rate low.

-   **Bounding box:** Shows the three-dimensional planes enclosing the parts instead of the parts themselves, which keeps the frame rate high.

-   **Drop objects:** Does not show some parts of the model in order to keep the frame rate high.

**Frame rate threshold:** Sets the minimum frame rate, either by dragging the slider or entering a number in the value box. If the frame rate drops below that number of frames per second, the **Optimization scheme for low frame rate** option goes into effect.